Apparatus for connecting dental prostheses and drilling template for use therewith

ABSTRACT

The apparatus comprises an anchoring element (2), a pin (3) fixed thereto, and a pin (4) rotatingly and pivotingly connected thereto. By means of a plastic handle (15) detachably affixed in a groove (13) of the anchoring element, this element can easily be inserted by its pins into matching boreholes (39, 47) in the tooth (38) serving as a support for the anchoring element. The telescoping drilling template (40) can be attached to the drill head (35) of a dental drill so that after the first hole (39) has been drilled in the tooth with a drill bit (36), the template is inserted in that hole, thus ensuring that the second hole (47) is drilled with the desired spacing corresponding to that of the two pins.

This invention relates to dental prostheses, and more particularly toapparatus for connecting such prostheses, of the type having ananchoring element and two pins for engaging existing teeth or supports,as well as to a drilling template for drilling holes in an existingtooth or a support, these holes being intended to receive the pins ofapparatus for connecting dental prostheses.

Apparatus for connecting dental prostheses, with pins to be cementedinto an existing tooth, have been proposed. Such apparatus is connectedto each tooth bounding a tooth gap. However, it is difficult for thedentist to drill two holes in the existing tooth in such a way that boththe longitudinal axes of the holes and their spacing correspond exactlyto the pins of the apparatus for connecting dental prostheses.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide improvedapparatus for connecting dental prostheses, as well as a drillingtemplate for use with the drill head of a drill for dentistry purposes,by means of which the necessary holes for fixing the pins of theapparatus in the tooth can be drilled in a simple manner.

Until now, apparatus for connecting dental prostheses have been seizedby the anchoring element with tweezers, so that very great skill on thepart of the dentist has been required. It is therefore a further objectof this invention to provide apparatus for connecting dental prosthesesdesigned in such a way that in a convenient manner, it can be seized andinserted in the holes drilled in the tooth with the aid of the drillingtemplate.

To this end, in the apparatus for connecting dental prostheses accordingto the present invention, one pin is rigidly joined to the anchoringelement, and the other pin is mounted rotatably and/or pivotably in arecess in the anchoring element.

The drilling template according to the present invention has at leastone pin to be introduced into a drilled hole.

Preferred embodiments of the invention and the manner of using them willnow be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a first embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the first embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is an elevation of a second embodiment, partially in section,

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is an elevation of the front part of a drill head with a drillingtemplate, shown partially in section, for drilling the holes in a toothto receive the pins of the anchoring element.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through apparatus 1 for connectingdental prostheses in a first embodiment of the invention. Apparatus 1comprises an anchoring element 2 and two pins 3 and 4 to be inserted inan existing tooth. Upper pin 3 is fixed rigidly in a recess 5 inanchoring element 2. Lower pin 4 is provided with a ball end 6 mountedrotatingly and pivotingly in a lower recess 7 of anchoring element 2.Lower recess 7 has a conical top 8. At the bottom of the cylindricaljacket 9 of anchoring element 2, retaining elements 10, 11, and 12 arecut into jacket 9 and bent in, and in the mid-region of anchoringelement 2 there is a groove 13 for engaging the horizontal portion 14 ofa plastic handle 15. By means of handle 15, pins 3 and 4 of anchoringelement 2 can be more easily inserted in holes drilled in a toothserving as a support for anchoring element 2. After anchoring element 2has been thus inserted by its pins, handle 15 can be removed from groove13. This manner of placing anchoring element 2 by means of handle 15 issimpler and more secure than seizing it with tweezers and introducingit. For mounting prostheses, an anchoring element 2 is inserted by meansof pins 3 and 4 in each of the teeth bounding a tooth gap, and theprosthesis is then placed on the anchoring elements 2. Pins 3 and 4further comprise regions 16 and 17 which may be provided with grooves sothat the material used for cementing pins 3 and 4 in the boreholes inthe tooth finds support between these grooves. On the side of anchoringelement 2 adjacent to the tooth serving as a support, there is a flatsurface 19.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the anchoring element of FIG. 1, thisanchoring element being particularly suitable for use in the region ofthe incisors. The top 18 of anchoring element 2 is frustoconical. Thespherical end 6 of lower pin 4 is held in recess 7 by bent-in retainingelements 10, 11, and 12 in the lower part of cylinder 9, pin 4 beingintroduced into the opening of recess 7 from below, and elements 10, 11,and 12 being bent in after insertion of ball end 6 into the opening.

FIG. 3 is a view of anchoring element 2 as seen from the direction ofhandle 15, while FIG. 4 is a top plan view of anchoring element 2 withhandle 15. Lower end 20 of handle 15, engaging groove 13 of anchoringelement 2, is forked and encircles the major part of the circumferenceof the anchoring element.

FIG. 5 is an elevation, partially in section, of an apparatus 21 forconnecting dental prostheses in a second embodiment of the invention,particularly suitable for use in the region of the molars. An upper pin22 is rigidly fixed in an opening 24 in an anchoring element 23. Pin 22likewise has a grooved area 25 at the front. Element 23 is frustoconicalat its top 26 and likewise includes a groove 27 for receiving the forkedend of plastic handle 15. A lower pin 28 is rotatingly and pivotinglysecured in anchoring element 23 by a spherical end 29 connected to pin28. This pin is held in a recess 30 provided for ball end 29 in thelower part of anchoring element 23 by means of a ring 32 inserted in acircular recess 31 in the anchoring element. The front area 33 of lowerpin 28 is preferably also provided with grooves. The side of anchoringelement 23 facing the tooth serving as a support, into which pins 22 and28 are inserted, is likewise a flat surface 34.

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of the apparatus according to the secondembodiment as shown in FIG. 5, viewed from the side facing the toothserving as a support. It will be seen that the outside surface ofanchoring element 23 is conical except for flat face 34.

In FIG. 7, a drill head 35 with a drill bit 36 is shown. Drill head 35adjoins the end 37 of the drill handle. First an upper borehole 39 isdrilled with drill bit 36 in the tooth 38 serving as a support for theprosthesis. During this first drilling operation, no drilling templateis as yet secured to drill head 35. Once upper hole 39 has been drilled,a drilling template 40 is mounted on drill head 35, e.g., by means of anattachment 41. Template 40 comprises two telescoped parts 42 and 43having respective central recesses 44 and 45 in which a compressionspring 46 is disposed. Template 40 is inserted in hole 39 alreadydrilled in tooth 38, and a second, lower hole 47 is then drilled in thetooth with drill bit 36. During drilling of hole 47, the narrower frontpart 43 of template 40 telescopes into the wider part 42. Thisarrangement ensures that the two holes 39 and 47 are drilled paralleland with the desired constant spacing corresponding to the spacingbetween pins 3 and 4 or 22 and 28 of the apparatus for connecting dentalprostheses. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, drilling template40 and drill bit 36 are disposed one above the other in the longitudinalaxis of drill head 35 and drill handle 37. However, template 40 anddrill bit 36 might be disposed on a line perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of drill head 35 instead, depending upon whether holes39 and 47 are to be drilled in an incisor or a molar.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for connecting a dental prostheseshaving an anchoring element and two pins for engaging existing teeth orsupports, one pin being rigidly joined to the anchoring element, and theother pin being mounted in a recess in the anchoring element in a mannerwhich permits it to move in a rotating fashion, wherein the anchoringelement has a groove disposed between the pins for detachably attachinga handle, wherein the anchoring element includes a handle inserteddetachably laterally in said groove.
 2. An apparatus for connecting adental prostheses having an anchoring element and two pins for engagingexisting teeth or supports, one pin being rigidly joined to theanchoring element, and the other pin being mounted in a recess in theanchoring element in a manner which permits it to move in a pivotingfashion, wherein the anchoring element has a groove disposed between thepins for detachably attaching a handle, wherein the anchoring elementincludes a handle inserted detachably laterally in said groove.
 3. Anapparatus for connecting a dental prostheses having an anchoring elementand two pins for engaging existing teeth or supports, one pin beingrigidly joined to the anchoring element, and the other pin being mountedin a recess in the anchoring element in a manner which permits it tomove in a rotating and pivoting fashion, wherein the anchoring elementhas a groove disposed between the pins for detachably attaching ahandle, wherein the anchoring element includes a handle inserteddetachably laterally in said groove.